Bizen is another firecracker living under the Stephens’
roof. He does not cut his hair for religious reasons and together with his
handsome face, he is often mistaken for a “kati,” or, “girl.” This does not
bother him in the slightest and instead is the first one dancing, the first one
singing, the first one cheering and laughing at any social gathering. To Bizen,
class is a social gathering. For that matter, to Bizen, everything is a social
gathering. I have been strict with him in the past for his interpretations of
“study time” and “class time” as “party time.” It is impossible to be truly mad
at him though, as he is one of the friendliest, funniest, liveliest people, big
or small, young or old, who I have ever met.
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Me: Tell me a little about yourself, what you like to do.
Bizen: My name is Bizen K.C. and I live in Sukedhara and I
am 12 years old. I like to hang out with my friends.
Me: Tell me about your family.
Bizen: There are 3 members in my family who are my parents,
mother, father and me, as a son. My mother is a beautician and she helps
friends and family when they have special occasions and want to look nice. My
dad is a Tae Kwon Do coach.
Me: Cool! I want him to teach me. I know your dad travels a lot, how come?
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| Season's greetings from sunny Nepal |
Me: When was the last time you saw your dad?
Bizen: Just before… about 6 months ago.
Me: Do you miss him?
Bizen: Yes. A lot.
Me: What two things would you change about this school?
Bizen: First thing is I would buy some lands so the students
could play. And second thing is that I would make extra buildings and make
experiment labs.
Me: Ok I think know the answer now, but what is your
favorite subject?
Bizen: I like math and science but the one I like the most
is science. Even though, as you know, I don’t get as good marks in science.
Me: That doesn’t matter, science doesn’t happen in those
books anyway. You need to go outside and do experiments like you said… I
know you’re a really good dancer, when did you start?
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| 'tude, after tearin up the dance floor |
Bizen: I started dancing when I was small and I saw in the
TV a dancing of the dancers, like hip-hop people, and from there I was inspired
and from there I learned. I learned from watching on TV.
Me: What is the strongest memory you have from when you were
littler?
Bizen: Hmm… I have a couple memories but I’m going to say one
of them. When I used to dance in school programs, like Parents’ Day and Annual
School Day, there was my dance partner who would dance along with me, my
partner, and I miss her. Her name was Emmy and she was friendly…even though
sometimes we would fight, you know friends fight sometime. She left in grade
four. Until then she was my dance partner.
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| Decked out at the Stephens dance competition this fall |
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| Lion or tiger? |
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| Definitely a unicorn |
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| He's quick to learn anything sport or outdoor-related |
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| Trekking swagger. |
Me: What is your religion? And is it important to you?
Bizen: I am a Chettri. Yes it is important to me.
Me: Your long hair…
Bizen: It’s because when I was young my hair was just above
the neck, right here, and my maternal uncle liked it so he said, “Keep it, we
will cut it next year,” then the next year he said next year, and next year and
now we keep it long.
Me: Do you like your hair?
Bizen: I like it because I’m popular because of my hair but
I don’t like it because I when I comb it, it pains a lot.
Me: Teach my friends two things about Nepal
Bizen: Hmm… There are two kinds of lives--city life and
village life in Nepal. I like to live village life because in the village there
are no facilities of studies and medical treatments and I want to increase the
facilities of studies and treatments in the villages and help the people.
And the people in the village are friendly too, but the old
guys they are kind of crappy and they drink and beat their wives and I don’t
want that to keep happening.
In the holidays I go and visit my relatives in Baglung. I
make friends and I play soccer with them in the field which is just kind of a
little bit damaged [smiles, alluding to the true meaning of “a little bit”]. I
don’t play with slippers I play with my barefoot because that is the habit in
the village. Sometimes I fall in the mud and get back up and play dirty.
I like two or three friends and they used to call me
“Lovely” as my nickname. They were boys, not girls [laughs]. One day a guy was
fighting with one of my friends and I went up to him and said, “Why are you
beating my friend?”
And he kept saying, “Who are you?”
“I am his friend.”
“Go away, don’t meddle,” and I beat him up with a stick. 2
or 3 of his friends come to me and ask me and I said he was beating my friend
because he took my friend’s cricket bat. I explained to them and they went
away, but my friend didn’t get his cricket bat.
So I went to them later to get the bat back, I brought a
stick with me and told them I came from Big Father’s house. Big Father is like
the man in the village that can give out punishments, the leader. So I told
them I am Little Son. Really, Big Father is my father’s brother. But I got my
friend’s cricket bat back fast.
Me: That was an awesome story,
thank you. You certainly spoke a lot more than Unisha, maybe I should make her
do this again. Anything you want to say to my friends and family before you go?
Bizen: I want you to visit Nepal and come to us and if you
have anything to ask or help then come to our school and we will help you and
please visit Nepal and us. See you when you come to Nepal and… be happy
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For Bizen, here is the Stephens' Annual School Day Youtube link (Bizen would like you to watch the whole thing, but if you're pressed for time, he will understand if you jump to 6:45 to the dance that he is leading.)
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